In a bid to showcase African Filmmakers to the global market and change the negative narrative about the continent, The Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), in partnership with YouTube and The Africa Narrative at USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center has called for entry into its IAMAfrica short film competition.
According to Ayuko Babu, Executive Director and a Founder of PAFF, the organisatIon has been at the vanguard of supporting cinematic storytelling from Africa and the African diaspora for a global audience.
“PAFF has been a pioneer in supporting cinematic storytelling from Africa and the African diaspora for a global audience. This new category for competition recognises the power of digital distribution and the growth of YouTube as a part of the African and global entertainment industry” he said on the competition and partnership with YouTube.
On his part, Michelle van Gilder, founder of The Africa Narrative said the Africa Narrative which is a project of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication aims to change the African narrative which has been negatively portrayed.
Its inaugural research project, “Africa in the Media” measured U.S. media depictions of the continent and revealed that mentions and portrayals of Africa or Africans on popular television shows or in the news are often negative and stereotyped.
“Changing the narrative is at the heart of our mission, this competition gives filmmakers on the continent the opportunity to reach global and local audiences with stories that counteract damaging stereotypes,” she said.
Also speaking on the competition, Dayo Olopade who leads content partnerships in Africa for YouTube said the reason YouTube partnered with PAFF was to give everyone a voice.
“YouTube’s mission is to give everyone a voice and show them the world. We hope this will showcase the next wave of film talent in Sub Saharan Africa, one of our fastest-growing markets” he said.
The competition with the theme “2020 Vision,” reflecting the global need to see African characters and situations with clarity and insight are open to story-driven videos of any format, style, and genre of less than 30 minutes in length and filmed on the African continent. Interested film-makers are enjoined to submit their entries via PAFF’s website at www.paff.org
The winner of this first-ever YouTube category will be announced at the 28th annual Pan African Film Festival, scheduled for February 13-23, 2020 in Los Angeles.